January 17-21, 2024

Today, our bus ride to Queenstown, the last of the trip, would be a long one at around eight hours.  It would turn out not to be that arduous as we had a longish stop for lunch halfway through and then a couple of hours out from the end when we had the option to get a drink, which we took advantage of by getting a beer at a nearby pub. 

For what would be one of the last times on this trip, we took two Ubers to the bus station and eventually located our bus, which was parked at the curb next to the station without any signage, confusing enough until we asked a woman nearby who advised us it was our bus, and we were welcome to board at any time. 

After passing though some lovely scenery and experiencing a wait in a long line of traffic entering the outskirts of Queenstown, we finally landed at the bus stop on Anthol Street, a half block off Gorge Road (which turns into Beach Street), the town’s main drag.  The town is built around an inlet called Queenstown Bay on Lake Wakatipu, a long, thin, Z-shaped lake formed by glacial processes, and has views of nearby mountains such as The Remarkables, Cecil Peak, Walter Peak and just above the town, Ben Lomond and Queenstown Hill. 

The first thing one notices when arriving here is that we’ve truly landed in a resort town, crowded with throngs of visiting tourists, both domestic and international in origin.  Tourism is a large component of the Queenstown economy, particularly outdoor and adventure tourism activities that include skiing and snowboarding, jet boating, whitewater rafting, bungy jumping, mountain biking, skateboarding, tramping, paragliding, sky diving and fly fishing.

We located a couple of Ubers that soon ferried us to Maha Peaks, our Airbnb for the next five nights, giving us plenty of time to explore the town and the surrounding area.  Our first full day would be activity free, giving us an opportunity to get caught up on laundry, shopping, and just generally exploring the neighborhood.  This would be the third most expensive lodging of the trip at $60 per person a night, but understandable given it was the summer season in a popular tourist town. 

One key advantage of this lodging was its proximity to the bus line that would take us from and into downtown, the well-stocked Fernhill Market, and two restaurants we would frequent, Chur Fish and Chips and Lokal, which was full that night and so dinner would be comprised of easy to prepare items we picked up at the market, a welcome break after so many meals out in restaurants. 

The next morning, I hung out at the house while the others went into town to look around and do a bit of shopping.  Later, I caught the local bus and as luck would have it just as I was disembarking in the middle of town, they came around the corner and we met up.  I dragged them into a couple of outdoor shops, both full of the kind of clothing and gear (North Face, Patagonia, etc.) that I would normally buy, but not having the need for anything new I was able to walk out with money still in my pocket.

Having checked out a few of the blocks at the center of town Marty and I returned to the house for a couple of hours while the ladies went out to Queenstown Gardens to kill a few hours.  The gardens contain a variety of exotic and native trees and plants as well as a large pond and a range of facilities that include a children’s playground, tennis, lawn bowls, skateboarding, BMX biking, skating, Parkrun, disc golf and ice skating/ice hockey.  The most visible large tree species in the garden is that of the Douglas fir of which there are many large specimens.  This tree also forms a protective forest that surrounds much of the gardens. The first two trees planted at the garden were English oaks in 1866 to commemorate the incorporation of the borough, but it was not until 1867 that the gardens were officially opened, and the major planting began. 

At an agreed upon time, Marty and I Ubered into town to meet up with the others at the Buzzstop Honey Centre & Café, which as its name boasts of New Zealand’s widest selection of native honey, including the very popular and quite expensive Manuka.  Here we would enjoy samplings of mead and a couple of local wines along with a nicely put together charcuterie board.  While enjoying the food and drink we witnessed couples spinning, filtering and bottling their own fresh honey and one could also create their own soap or candles. 

Sated, we all Ubered back to the house for some downtime before walking across the street for our dinner reservation at Lokal Kitchen and Bar, a meal we would enjoy enough to return during our stay.  We’d start off with drinks, including a few Gin Smashes, and would eventually consume a Lokal Burger (9 hours house smoked beef brisket, bacon, cheese, tomato relish, caramelized onions, lettuce, slaw, and horseradish mayo) along with two pizzas, the first the Italian (tomato base, mozzarella, red onion, pepperoni, and oregano) and the BBQ Chicken (Mozzarella, bacon, smoked chicken, BBQ sauce, mushrooms, green capsicum, and jalapeno.  We paid the tab of 157NZ ($102) and returned to the house for a quiet evening as we prepared for a Queensland Highlights tour the next day.  And that would be the end of a nice first day in town. 

Links

Maha Peaks: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/51195046?source_impression_id=p3_1716411683_WY8nDA5gPNzOEhb4

Queenstown Gardens: https://www.qldc.govt.nz/

The Buzzstop Honey Centre & Café: https://www.buzzstop.co.nz/

Lokal: https://www.lokalqt.co.nz/